


Not What You Think

by ArgyleMN



Series: Bryce Lahela/Cassie Vanderfield - Canon Universe One Shots [3]
Category: Open Heart (Visual Novels)
Genre: Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, F/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24495061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgyleMN/pseuds/ArgyleMN
Summary: Cassie finds herself in an uncomfortable situation when she has to find excuses with Bryce in order to care for Banerji. Set around Chapter 9 of Open Heart book 1.
Relationships: Bryce Lahela/Main Character (Open Heart)
Series: Bryce Lahela/Cassie Vanderfield - Canon Universe One Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1768597
Kudos: 11





	Not What You Think

“Stay over,” Bryce murmured in her ear, still sounding slightly out of breath.

“I can’t.” Cassie moved to roll off his bed, but he threw his leg over her hip, pinning her to the mattress with his thigh. She laughed, shaking her head. “Come on, Bryce. It’s late, and I should get back to my place.

“Why? Aren’t you off tomorrow?”

Cassie bit her lip. She’d mentioned that she had tomorrow off earlier in the week. But then Ramsey had asked if she could come in and help with Banerji, doing some chart review and whatnot. And after she’d been to his apartment a couple of nights ago and seen how big of a burden he’d been carrying, she felt it was her duty to lend a hand, help out were she could. But she obviously couldn’t tell Bryce that those were her plans for the day.

Bryce was clearly taking her silence as contemplation on the topic, as he began kneading her tense muscles at the base of her neck with his thumb, dropping several kisses along her jawline before returning to whisper in her ear, “I promise waking up to me is way better than any alarm clock. Come on, I think you know I’ll make it worth your while.”

Cassie leaned back to meet his lips in a playful kiss before attempting to wiggle out from under his leg. “As tempting as the offer is, I have plans tomorrow morning.”

“Doing what? What better offer do you have than all of _this_?” he said, gesturing across his body, “Because I want in on whatever you have planned if it is that amazing.”

Cassie rolled her eyes, “Now I think I am _obligated_ to reject your offer, even if I wasn’t busy, just to keep your ego in check.”

“Nah, you love it. Seriously, though. What are you doing? Plans with the roomies?”

“No, I just-” Cassie was scrambling to come up with an excuse when her phone chirped. “ _Saved by the bell_ ,” she thought as she reached over and dug her phone out of her scrub pants. As she unlocked her screen, she saw the new notification. It was a text from Ramsey.

_Will I still see you at 0600 tomorrow?_

“Why the hell is he texting you?”

Cassie whipped her head around. She hadn’t realized Bryce could see her screen from his position. Attempting to deflect, she decided to tease Bryce a little. “You’re not jealous, are you?” she asked, running her free hand through his hair, tucking her phone out of sight in hopes of redirecting Bryce’s attention. He wasn’t so easily distracted, though, shaking his head roughly.

“Why does he even have your cell phone number? And why are you spending time with him on your day off?”

Cassie sighed. She wanted to tell him the truth. Even if things were still casual between them, they had both stated that they weren’t sleeping with anyone else, and she knew if this was going to develop into a relationship, then honesty was pretty essential. The issue was that this wasn’t her story to tell.

“I mean, you know that I kinda idolized him and his research. Now that he’s sort of taken me under his wing for whatever reason-”

“Oh, you _know_ what reason,” Bryce interrupted, sitting up against the headboard, crossing his arms across his chest.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on Cassie. You are not that naïve.”

Cassie rolled over on her side to face Bryce fully. Things were headed south quickly here, and she didn’t want Bryce to get the wrong idea about why she was choosing to spend time with Ramsey over him. “Stop it, Bryce. He’s my mentor, and there is no interest on any personal level.”

“Maybe on your end. But can you honestly tell me that there isn’t any interest on his side?”

“Yes, things have always been professional between us.”

Bryce shook his head in frustration, “Look, I just think-”

“Quite frankly, I don’t particularly care what you think. You aren’t my boyfriend, Bryce. And even if you were, I’m not gonna let you dictate my professional development. I want a career in diagnostics, and if a leader in the field has taken me on as his sort of protégée, I’m not gonna be stupid enough to say no to that.”

Bryce paused for a moment before he took a breath and spoke again. “Cassie, I don’t want to fight with you about this. And I certainly don’t want to do anything that makes you think I’m not fully supportive of any career moves you need to make. But you need to be honest with yourself. He’s interested in a lot more than mentorship when it comes to you.”

Cassie bit her lip. She had sometimes wondered just why Ramsey had singled her out, why she seemed to be the only internal med intern that Ramsey even noticed. It had given her pause in her first few weeks of residency, but now that she knew his secret and was an equal partner in caring for Banerji, his attention just seemed logical. Unfortunately, she couldn’t explain that to Bryce without betraying both his and Banerji’s trust.

“You need to trust me, Bryce. He hasn’t tried anything that even came close to the boundary of inappropriate. If he had, do you think I would still _want_ him as my mentor?”

Bryce tilted his head in acquiescence, “Fair enough. And I _guess_ meeting with an attending about career plans is just barely an acceptable reason to forego another round with me.”

Cassie leaned over, meeting his lips in a light kiss which she allowed Bryce to deepen slightly before she pulled away and climbed out of his bed, getting dressed and letting his incorrect assumption about the nature of her plans with Ramsey stand for now. She knew that she would have to explain things more fully with him at some point if they kept seeing each other, if things ever got more serious. But for now, she figured a white lie would have to do. It was the only way to do right by her patient, even one that was off the record.


End file.
